The Royal Shakespeare Company is marking the 400th anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio with a new five-part podcast hosted by artistic director emeritus Gregory Doran.
My Shakespeare, The Folio Roadshow: The People, History and Stories of Shakespeare's First Folio explores the “remarkable” history of the Folio through Doran’s eyes. Seen as “one of the great Shakespearians of his generation” according to the Sunday Times, Doran has made it his mission to visit as many of the copies of the First Folio in existence, travelling to libraries, museums and private collections in 10 countries in the anniversary year.
All podcast episodes will be available to download later in November for free via the RSC web site as well as on multiple podcast platforms.
Doran said, “My Folio Roadshow came about when I realised just how many extraordinary stories connect the 235 surviving copies. I decided to see as many of them as I could and to share those stories.
“My journey has introduced me to the people who look after these precious volumes, who try to interpret them in a modern context and who often grapple with the colonial legacy of Shakespeare. It’s been a fascinating journey of exploration in the Folio’s quatercentenary year.”
The five-part podcast will examine the history and significance of the First Folio, charting its diverse history of ownership across the centuries and delving into the “unique” and “fascinating” stories that populate the pages.
In 2023, Doran directed Cymbeline, his 50th production for the RSC. This also marked the culmination of his personal journey through Shakespeare’s canon, having either directed, worked on or produced every play in the Folio during his career.
The RSC has a copy of the First Folio which visitors can access for free as part of the theatre’s permanent exhibition The Play’s The Thing.
Meanwhile, the RSC’s nationwide search for the most exciting new voices of today, 37 Plays, reaches its conclusion with script-in-hand readings in theatres and communities across the UK until Saturday 18 November.
There were more than 2,000 submissions from across the UK. The final 37 plays come from writers all over the United Kingdom whose ages range from 9 to 65. Nearly a third of the selected 37 plays are by first-time writers.
Pippa Hill, the RSC’s head of new work, commented, “much like Shakespeare’s own works, these plays offer a remarkable snapshot of our world today and raise important questions about the issues that matter to us most: from climate crisis to living life online to questions of class, faith, race, war and consent.
“From our youngest writers to our most experienced, a picture emerges of a country wrestling with big questions, sharing a sense of loss and exploring new identities. The collection moves wonderfully from the domestic to the supernatural, from conventional structures used to tell wholly new stories to new frontiers of theatrical storytelling as we know it.”